Jigsaw puzzles have been available in a variety of forms for over two centuries. The typical jigsaw puzzle involves an image on a sheet of suitable material such as cardboard or wood, which is cut into a plurality of various shaped and sized pieces. In reconstructing the image from the pieces, an individual compares the various clues to the puzzle's solution including the shape of the puzzle pieces, and the colour and design of the image on the puzzle pieces.
Recently, variations from the conventional approach to jigsaw puzzles has resulted in renewed interest and sales of puzzles. For example, puzzle designers have increased the difficulty of assembling a puzzle by removing one or more of the clues to its solution. One such puzzle displayed a uniform colour, thereby removing both colour and design as potential clues to its solution. Canadian Patent No. 1,142,193 shows a puzzle in which each of the puzzle pieces is identically shaped in the outline of a lizard or some other animal, and which is capable of numerous different solutions. However, the pieces are only connectible in certain limited ways; thus 3 pieces are connected together at the heads of the lizard shapes to form a cluster, and the clusters can then be arranged in various ways.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,714 discloses a variable arrangement floral design jigsaw puzzle in which the inner pieces of the puzzle are of three different shapes. Each side of each of the inner piece shapes is capable of interlocking with any side of any other inner piece, thereby creating multiple different solutions. Each inner piece displays either background or floral images. This reference shows a puzzle which can be used to create artistic floral designs.
Recently, significant consumer interest has developed for puzzles in which the various shaped pieces interlock to form a three dimensional structure, as disclosed in Canadian Patent 2,650,969. However, on any one surface of the puzzle, the pieces interlock in the manner of a conventional puzzle.
The Milton Bradley Company, U.S.A., has marketed a puzzle under the trade mark MOSAIC, in which all the inner pieces have straight edges, which are orthogonal to one another. A frame is provided, in which the pieces interlock in the manner of a conventional puzzle, to hold all the inner pieces in place. However, all the pieces are essentially of different configuration and most are not symmetrical. At least if there is any repetition of individual shapes it is not enough to permit the pieces to be rearranged readily to create an artistic effect. The image on the pieces is conventional. The pieces are cut so as not to provide any significant frictional engagement, and hence the need for the edge pieces to hold them all together. Further, the pieces are partially cut through on square grid, to create the mosaic effect. The edges of the inner pieces also fall on this square grid. With the exception of one or two pieces, most pieces do not interlock.
Computerized puzzles have also been developed in which images of the various puzzle pieces are displayed on the computer screen, and are selected and moved into position on the screen using some form of pointing device, such as a mouse, although often the pieces can only be moved horizontally and vertically and are not capable of being rotated.
German Patent No. 3,502,581 discloses a puzzle displaying a computer generated image with pixels having a limited number of colours. The computer then generates an image corresponding to the original image, for each colour, in which only the pixels of that colour are displayed. It is these individual colour images that are put onto transparent puzzle pieces. The pieces for all of the individual colour images are then stacked to generate the complete pixelated image.
It is desirable to provide a jigsaw puzzle which provides added difficulty by eliminating puzzle piece shape as a clue to the solution of the puzzle. It is also desirable to provide a jigsaw puzzle which permits multiple original artistic arrangements of the pieces as determined solely by the user. It is further desirable to provide a jigsaw puzzle which provides added difficulty by reducing or eliminating the image on the individual puzzle pieces as a clue to the puzzle's solution.
It is also desirable to provide a jigsaw puzzle in which the nature of the image is unknown to the user until the puzzle is substantially complete.